A convicted sex offender from Motherwell sent indecent photos of himself to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

David Corrigan became infatuated with ‘Niamh’ as the pair traded messages over the internet for a five-month period.

The 34-year-old talked of “running my hands all over your body and kissing you all over too”.

Neil Thomson, prosecuting, told Hamilton Sheriff Court he pestered her for pictures then sent her three indecent photos of himself.

They then exchanged phone numbers before police officers swooped on Corrigan’s home in Shields Court, Motherwell, last summer.

Corrigan admitted sending indecent images and messages to a person he believed was aged 13 between December 2016 and May last year.

Corrigan, who lived previously in Coatbridge, was jailed for five years at the High Court in 2010 for offences including sending sexual images to a girl of 13 via a webcam. He was put on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period on that occasion.

Before that he had been given probation for possessing indecent images of children.

The judge in the High Court case ruled that Corrigan posed such a risk he should be supervised for eight years when he was freed from prison.

The court heard on Friday that he was released early, in September 2012, but after being charged over the latest case he was recalled to prison and will remain there until at least May 2022.

Mr Thomson said an undercover police officer created an online profile using the name Niamh in August last year. The profile stated she was a girl of 13 who lived in the Manchester area.

In December she began receiving unsolicited messages from ‘David C’ who said she looked “sexy and cute” and asked if she liked older men.

They started to exchange messages regularly and it got to the stage where Corrigan talked about travelling south to meet her.

‘Niamh’ pointed out that her mum might not be keen to have a man of 33 turn up at the house, but he brushed her concern aside, saying he would stay in a hotel.

He told her he wanted to “bring you out of that shyness”.

Mr Thomson said Corrigan asked the girl repeatedly for pictures, but all she sent were photos of a girl from the waist down in school uniform.

He then sent her a series of indecent pictures of himself.

Subsequently, Corrigan asked for her phone number. She sent him a number and he sent her his. Information about the pair’s communications was then passed to the national online child abuse investigation unit.

Corrigan, who lived alone, was detained at his home and various devices were seized. He replied ‘no comment’ to all questions during his police interview.

Sheriff Ray Small called for a risk assessment on Corrigan and deferred sentence until June 8.